Heater for laundry ironers



June 11, 1935. N. L, E TEN 2,004,430

HEATER FOR LAUNDRY IRONERS Filed March 8, 1932 5? 6 wl ff v I5. The top of Patented June 11, 1935 UNITED STATES 2,004,430 HEATER FOR LAUNDRY IRONEBS Nicholas L. Etten, Waterloo,

mesne assignments, to

Iowa, assignor,

by Chamberlain 00 tion, a corporation of Iowa Application March 8, 1932, Serial No. 597,455

2Claims.

At the present laundry ironers are customarily heated with steam, and those intended for domestic use are usually heated electrically because of the dangers attendant upon the use of steam.

The object of my invention is to provide a heater for ironers or the like having all of the advantages of the steam heated ironers without the dangers and disadvantages attendant upon the use of steam, and to provide an ironer of this class which may be safely used either as a do mestic or commercial ironer.

More specifically it is my object to provide a heater of this class especially designed for use with a liquid whose boiling point is higher than the temperature best suited for ironer heating, so that the iron may be heated in a uniform manner and steadily maintained at the desired ordinary gas or oil heater may be employed.

My invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of the various parts of the device, whereby the objects contemplated are attained, as hereinafter more fully set forth, pointed out in my claims, and illustrated in the accompanying drawing.

The drawing shows a side elevation of an ironing machine of ordinary construction, and illustrates diagrammatically my improved heating apparatus.

Referring to the accompanying drawing, I have .used the reference numeral III to indicate generally an ironing machine member H of the construction now ordinarily used in connection with steam heated ironing machines. The head II is provided with passageways for fluid.

The reference numeral l2 indicates a heater having a coil l3 therein, and a burner M, which is preferably a gas burner fed by a supply pipe the coil l3 communicates through the pipe IS with a supply or storage tank l5, and this tank I 6 communicates through the pipe I! with one end of the ironer head; the

through a pipe 20 to the bottomof the coil l3.

I have provided a thermostatic valve control device of ordinary construction, indicated generally by the numeral 2! and having a portion thereof 22 projected into the supply tank I6.

This thermostatic control device operates a valve 23 in the gas supply pipe I! and operates in such a manner that when the temperature oi. the fluid within the supply tank l6 reaches a certain predetermined height the supply of gas will be cut oil, and when'the temperature falls below the desired point the valve 23 will be having a heating- Contained within the ironerhead ll, coil I3, supply tank l6 and'all oi. said pipes is a liquid, the boiling point of which is much higher than that of water. I have successfully employed for this purpose diethylene glycol, the boiling point of which is approximately 450 Fahrenheit.

In an ironing machine it is desirable to. have the ironer head heated to a temperature of approximately 390 degrees Fahrenheit, and therefore by the use of this liquid the desired temperature may be maintained in the ironer head without having the liquid approach the boiling point, thereby eliminating all the dangers and objections attendant upon the use of steam for heating laundry heads.

In practical operation when the gas is burning and the pump I9 is being operated, the liquid will flow throughout the entire apparatus, and if it is given a temperature of, say for instance, 390 degrees Fahrenheit in the coil l3, that temperature will be transmitted to and maintained in the ironer head, and the temperature is controlled by the th rmostatic regulator governing the gas supply.

In the class of ironers now in general use, which employ steam as the heating medium, it .is necessary to make the ironer head strong enough to withstand a pressure of approximately one hundred pounds to the square inch, and as these ironer heads are usually made of cast iron with steam passageways extending through them, it frequently happens that flaws or pockets in the cast iron cause the ironer heads to be broken when steam under pressure is placed therein.

With my device, however, it is not necessary to make the ironer head as heavy or strong, because the liquid flows through it under approximately atmospheric pressure at all times.

I claim as my invention:

1. In an ironing machine, a member to be heated, said member having a fluid passageway therethrough, a heating coil, means for applying heat to the coil, pipes connecting the coil and the member to be heated to form an enclosed system, a liquid filling said member to be heated, the coil and the pipes, said liquid having a boiling point higher than the temperature to which it is desired to heat said member.

2.'In anironing machine, a member to be heated, said member having a fluid passageway therethrough, a container for fluid, means connecting said container and said passageway, a liquid filling said container, connecting means and said passageway, and means independent of said member to be heated for heating said liquid, said liquid having a boiling point higher than the temperature to which it is desired .to

heat said member.

NICHOLAS L. EI'I'EN. 

